Celtic expert issues emphatic verdict as David Turnbull controversy analysed
Frank McAvennie has claimed VAR would not have intervened on the incident between Kyle Lafferty and Celtic midfielder David Turnbull on Sunday.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former Hoops striker does not think the technology would have been used to retrospectively punish Lafferty.
Lafferty appeared to kick out at Moritz Jenz after being tackled by the Celtic centre-half at Rugby Park on Sunday (14 August).
Later in the game, Lafferty seemed to kick the ball at Turnbull’s head.
The ex-Rangers striker was not penalised for either incident.
As reported by The Sun (18 July) VAR is set to be introduced into the Scottish top flight after the World Cup in Qatar which would be the midpoint of the season.
The Scottish Football Association are now said to be speeding up the process and the technology could be in place a few weeks earlier than initially anticipated.
When asked if VAR would intervene in such an incident once it is introduced, McAvennie told Football Insider: “I’m not a big fan of VAR.
“I watched a lot of the English games as the weekend and I was thinking, ‘Surely that’s not right.’ They keep changing the rules, nobody knows what they are.
“He [Lafferty] used to play with Rangers. The fans didn’t mind it they were giving him pelters for it. He’s hit out, it didn’t bother David Turnbull because he knows he’s got the better of him.“
In other news, a pundit has suggested Celtic and Rangers may be keen to quit SPFL for Premier League after major development.